What is Your Financial Health Score?
It’s probably no surprise to you that your financial situation is closely tied to your mental health, your ability to plan for the future, and your family. Money can feel like this huge, confusing topic - and it’s normal to get stressed out about it. Especially right now, when COVID-19 is having a big impact on our lives, including our finances.
To help you with that, Meridian has introduced Your Financial Health Score. In less than two minutes you can complete a survey that gives you:
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Your overall Financial Health Score, plus a breakdown of how you score when it comes to spending, saving, borrowing, and planning.
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An overview of how your scores compare to other people in Ontario.
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Custom advice on how to improve your scores so that you can have the financial future you want.
Let’s talk about how it works.
How do we calculate your score?
Your answers to the Your Financial Health Score survey tell us where you stand in terms of the eight key indicators of financial health:
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You spend less than your income, so you can handle everyday expenses and set aside some savings.
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You pay your bills on time and in full, avoiding extra charges and changes to your credit score.
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You’ve saved up enough to deal with an emergency without using up long-term savings or credit.
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You save for future goals like buying a home or a paying for a child’s education.
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You have a manageable amount of debt, and a plan to pay it back.
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You’re aware of your credit score and it’s high enough that you could get a good rate on a loan or line of credit.
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You have enough insurance to help you recover from an emergency or unexpected expense.
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You plan ahead by making sure you have a good sense of future expenses and how to reach your financial goals.
How do you compare to other people?
Based on research, we know that people in Ontario are generally scoring well when it comes to some, though not all, of the eight financial health indicators. So they’re doing pretty well, but there’s room for improvement. Here’s what we know about Ontarians:
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They score higher when it comes to spending and borrowing, but there’s lots of room for improvement with saving and planning for the future.
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Unsurprisingly, older people with higher income get higher scores.
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Their top three priorities are saving for retirement, saving for short term needs, and investing to grow wealth.
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On average, Meridian members scored a bit higher than other Ontarians.
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Despite the fact that people in Ontario are generally scoring well, only 37% say that they feel good about their money.
Start feeling good about your money
The best way to start feeling more confident about your financial situation is to really understand how you measure up and exactly how you need to improve. Ready to start? Get Your Financial Health Score in just two minutes
At the end of the survey, make sure to send yourself a copy of the results. Then you can take the survey in a few months or a year and track your progress over time.
Learn more about financial wellness
What is financial wellness?
What does a wealth advisor do?
Mindfulness and money
“Your Financial Health Score leverages the Financial Health Network FinHealth Score® Toolkit”
Meridian Credit Union partnered with Maru/Matchbox to conduct a survey among Canadian consumers residing in Ontario. The online fieldwork occurred between April 29th and May 7th, 2020. In total, 1500 completes were collected after balancing on census age, gender, and household income in Ontario. For more information about Maru/Matchbox, please go to https://marumatchbox.com/.